浅析爱丽丝·门罗的《逃离》中女主人公的逃离_英语论文

On the Heroines’ Runaway in Alice Munro’s Runaway

摘要

诺贝尔文学奖获得者、加拿大女性作家爱丽丝·门罗以加拿大安大略小乡镇为写作背景, 于2004年创作了短篇小说集—《逃离》,讲述城郊平凡女性的成长痛苦和生老病死。通过一个个不同年龄段的女性的不同经历,展开了对困顿痛苦而又虚伪冷酷的人生现状的描写,而女主人公则均选择以逃离的方式来摆脱这充斥着躁动与不安的困境。本文首先从文本分析的角度,分类论述了门罗所描写的逃离—逃离家庭、逃离两性关系和逃离自我；然后从社会、家庭、自我三个层面探讨了文中女主人公逃离的原因。

挖掘逃离背后隐藏的原因,有助于我们进一步理解门罗创作的情怀和思想,了解小说想要呈现的二十世纪中叶加拿大中下阶层女性所面临的家庭婚姻困境。

关键词：爱丽丝·门罗； 逃离； 女性

Abstract

In 2004, Alice Munro, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, created a collection of eight short stories—Runaway, which was set in small towns in Ontario. The book talks about pains of the ordinary women in suburbs and such matters as birth, death, illness, and old age. Through different experience of women in different ages, Munro gave a description of their living situation of embarrassment, pains, hypocrisy and cruelty. And in order to get rid of the troubles, all of the heroines choose to run away. To begin with, the paper applies textual analysis method to analyzing different escapes—escape from family, relationship, and self. Then, from the perspectives of society, family and self, the paper explains the underlying causes of the heroines’ runaway. To dig into the causes of their escapes is helpful for us to further understand Munro’s creativity and insights, the family and marriage dilemma confronted by the middle and lower class women in the mid-20th century Canada. 

Key words: Alice Munro; Runaway; escape; female

Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter One Escape from Family 3

1.1 Carla’s First Escape 3

1.2 The Escape of Juliet 4

1.3 Lauren’s “Adult” Life 6

Chapter Two Escape from Relationship 8

2.1 Carla’s Escape from Marriage 9

2.2 Grace’s Escape from Her Fiancé 10

Chapter Three Escape from Oneself 12

3.1 Juliet’s Self Dissatisfaction 13

3.2 The Power of Tessa 14

3.3 Robin’s Ideal World 15

Conclusion 16

Bibliography 17

Acknowledgements 19